Peer Review

We continue to fret about peer review.1 But with the abundance of journals in every field today, just about anything that has a bit of novelty in it can get published somewhere if the authors persist. What is more important than good peer review is critical reading of articles no matter where they are published. The fact that an article makes it to print should not cause us to lower our analytical senses when attempting to build on the information provided in that article regardless of the perce

Written byGuy Hallman
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We continue to fret about peer review.1 But with the abundance of journals in every field today, just about anything that has a bit of novelty in it can get published somewhere if the authors persist. What is more important than good peer review is critical reading of articles no matter where they are published. The fact that an article makes it to print should not cause us to lower our analytical senses when attempting to build on the information provided in that article regardless of the perceived quality of the journal.
Guy Hallman
Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Weslaco, TX 78596
1. A.C. Weller, "Peer review: Do studies prove its effectiveness?" The Scientist, 15[21]:39, Oct. 29, 2001.

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